BISHKEK. Feb 22 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan's parliament has ratified an intergovernmental agreement with Russia on the construction and operation of the Kambarata Hydropower Plant-1 and the Upper Naryn hydropower cascade, an Interfax correspondent reported.
The ratified document will soon be forwarded to the country's president for signing.
The agreement was signed by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and his Kyrgyz counterpart Avtandil Kalmambetov in September 2012.
The projects will be implemented on the Kyrgyz side by JSC Electric Power Plants, while the Russian participants will be OJSC Inter RAO UES (RTS: IRAO) for Kambarata HPP-1 and RusHydro (RTS: HYDR) for Upper Naryn.
Kambarata-1 HPP is part of the Middle Naryn hydropower cascade along with Kambarata-2 HPP and Kambarata-3 HPP. The plant will tentatively have capacity of 1,600 MW and is expected to produce an average of more than 5 billion kWh of electricity annually.
In order to implement the project, the parties have formed a 50-50 joint venture called CJSC Kambarata HPP-1. The Russian side will provide about $1.7 billion to finance the project and help raise debt financing for 50% of the construction cost.
The Upper Naryn cascade will include four hydropower plants: Akbulun HPP, Naryn-1, Naryn-2 and Naryn-3, with combined capacity of 282 MW and expected average annual output of more than 1 billion kWh. Electric Power Plants and RusHydro have formed the 50-50 joint venture CJSC Upper Naryn Hydropower Plants. Under the agreement, the Russian party will ensure that Kyrgyzstan raises debt financing for 50% of the project cost.
Kyrgyzstan will provide tenure rights to land set aside for construction and other assets as its contribution to the charter capital of both joint ventures.
St. Petersburg's Lengidroproyekt has won a tender for the $2.5 million contract to do the feasibility study for construction of the four cascade plants. The results of a tender for the feasibility study for Kambarata HPP-1 are to be announced in April-May.
The completion of these two projects will enable Kyrgyzstan to cover winter peak energy consumption and boost electricity exports, according to the Central Asian country's Energy and Industry Ministry.